Legislation / Court Cases

An international pro-life pregnancy care center umbrella group is urging Illinois pregnancy centers to defy a new state law requiring them to participate in abortions, even as those centers and others file suit against the law. In a letter quoted in part by Heartbeat International news publication Pregnancy Help News (PHN), Heartbeat President Jor-El Godsey said this week Illinois’ Senate Bill (SB) 1564 is a “direct assault on our pro-life, pro-health and pro-woman values [that] cannot be allowed to stand.” According to Godsey, “To violate this major tenet of our life-affirming outreach, even if compelled by the government, represents an undeniable breach of ethics. To bow the knee to the state is to deny the very foundation of our mission.” Signed by pro-abortion Republican Governor Bruce Rauner this past July and scheduled to go into effect January 2017, SB 1564 requires pro-life centers to promote, and at times participate in, helping women to get abortions. From the law: (3) If requested by the patient or the legal representative of the patient, the health care facility, physician, or health care personnel shall: (i) refer the patient to, or (ii) transfer the patient to, or (iii) provide in writing information to the patient about other health care providers who they reasonably believe may offer the health care service the health care facility, physician, or health personnel refuses to permit, perform, or participate in because of a conscience-based objection. Lawsuit Filed Against SB 1564 Godsey’s letter came as the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit against Rauner on behalf of “multiple pregnancy care centers, a pregnancy care center network, and a...

California Senators passed an oppressive, Planned Parenthood-backed bill on Wednesday to stop whistleblowers and journalists from conducting undercover investigations of any “health care providers.” The Center for Medical Progress’s undercover video project did a lot of damage to Planned Parenthood when it revealed the abortion giant’s baby body parts operation. Through the California bill, Planned Parenthood is trying to stop anyone from trying to expose its horrendous practices ever again. California Assembly Bill 1671 passed the state Senate on Wednesday evening in a 26-13 party line vote and is expected to be sent to pro-abortion Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk soon, the Sacramento Bee reports. The legislation makes it a crime for anyone to record undercover footage of “health care providers,” including abortion facilities. An original version of the bill also would have punished third parties, including journalists and lawyers, who do nothing more than report or distribute the footage, the Courthouse News Service reports. Violations include stiff fines and jail time, according to the report. The Senate amended the bill this week to appease an outcry from journalists and news agencies. The amended version removed the penalties for third parties who distribute the footage… On Wednesday, The Los Angeles Times editorial board published a strong op-ed against the bill. The American Civil Liberties Union of California, which often partners with Planned Parenthood on legal cases, also opposes the bill, citing First Amendment concerns about freedom of the press. Keep up with the latest pro-life news and information on Twitter. Here’s more from the report: Kevin Baker, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union of California, said they share...

Less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court nullified certain abortion safety laws, a medical emergency at the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in St. Louis, MO, has illustrated how women have been left in jeopardy by the nation’s High Court. It happened on Saturday, July 2, 2016, a heavy abortion day. Paramedics were photographed by pro-life activists as they removed a Planned Parenthood patient from the abortion facility and loaded her into an awaiting ambulance. Abortion workers and an armed security guard attempted to conceal the incident by holding up large brown tarps. This medical emergency represented the 60th time since 2009 that ambulances have been dispatched to the St. Louis Planned Parenthood to render aid to patients that Planned Parenthood was not equipped to provide. Planned Parenthood is currently the only abortion facility in Missouri. Provisions that were struck down by the Supreme Court last week included required hospital privileges for abortionists that must be maintained within 30 miles of their abortion facilities. Missouri has a similar law, and if that is eventually nullified, Missouri women will be left with few, if any, protections against substandard abortionists that cannot qualify for hospital privileges. “The situation is Missouri is bad enough without stripping away one of the only safety measures in place to protect women. If you don’t think they need protecting from quack abortionists, you have never heard of Kermit Gosnell, Steven Brigham, James Pendergraft, or any number of currently practicing abortionists that no concept of medical or ethical standards,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. In response to a lawsuit filed by Operation Rescue, the...

http://safehaven.tv/ This spring, a little girl in Ohio should have celebrated her first birthday. There was no party, though. Why not? Well, she wasn’t put in a hospital nursery after she was born. She was put in a plastic bag. Emile Weaver received a life sentence last month for the murder of her newborn. Weaver gave birth in a sorority house at Muskingum University, and then placed her daughter in a garbage bag. The story isn’t unique, as babies regularly turn up in trash bags, and dumpsters. Many don’t survive. It is a little surreal, though: while Weaver is going to prison for killing her newborn in Ohio, New Mexico’s Southwestern Women’s Options will perform late-term abortions for women who didn’t realize how far along they were. And under state law, abortion is legal right up until birth. But there’s another adjective for this tragedy: preventable. Across the country, Baby Safe Haven Laws offer safe places where an infant can be brought–with no questions asked. Some states require that a baby be taken to a hospital, but most also designate police and fire stations as safe havens, too. The group Baby Safe Haven has created an interactive map that provides a summary of the specific rules in each jurisdiction — http://safehaven.tv/states/ Information is available toll-free at 1-888-510-BABY (2229), and http://safehaven.tv/ Baby Safe Haven laws and location Find your local Baby Safe Haven Every baby deserves a pair of loving arms, and given the number of couples hoping to adopt, a lot of arms are waiting. Help by raising awareness of Baby Safe Haven Laws through social media, churches, civic...

Planned Parenthood says it will work with its abortion-rights allies in eight states to repeal laws that may be vulnerable following the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down tough abortion restrictions in Texas. The repeal campaign will initially target laws in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia, as well as measures in Texas that were not directly addressed by the Supreme Court ruling. Laws in other states may be targeted later. “We will fight back state by state and law by law until every person has access to safe, legal abortion,” said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “No matter how long it takes, these laws will fall.” On Monday, in a 5-3 ruling, the Supreme Court struck down regulations in Texas that required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and forced abortion clinics to meet hospital-like physical standards. More than half of the state’s 41 abortion clinics closed since the law passed in 2013. The Supreme Court’s ruling held that the regulations are medically unnecessary and unconstitutionally limit a woman’s right to an abortion. Soon after the ruling was announced, Texas-style laws were nullified in Mississippi, Wisconsin and Alabama. Here are the targets of the repeal campaign: Missouri: Laws requiring abortion doctors to have privileges at nearby hospitals and clinics to meet hospital-like standards. The admitting-privileges law ended access to abortion in a Columbia facility, leaving the state with only one health center that provides abortions. Virginia: Regulations requiring hospital-like outpatient surgery standards for abortion clinics. Two clinics have closed since the regulations were approved...

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) struck down a Texas law (H.B.2) that sought to protect women’s health by requiring abortion clinics follow minimum standards for ambulatory surgical centers and that abortionists have surgical privileges at a hospital within 30 minutes of the abortion clinic. In a 5-3 decision, SCOTUS decided in Whole Woman’s Health V. Hellerstedt that the Texas law posed “[u]nnecessary health regulations that have the pur­pose or effect of presenting a substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion impose an undue burden on the right”. The case was filed by an abortion business operating in Texas. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Alito, with Chief Justice Roberts concurring, expressed disbelief that the five justices opposed sections of H.B. 2 that imposed reasonable safety measures on abortion sites. Justice Alito wrote, “Provisions that are indisputably constitutional–for example, provisions that require facilities performing abortions to follow basic fire safety measures–are stricken from the books. There is no possible justification for this collateral damage. The Court’s patent refusal to apply well-established law in a neutral way is indefensible and will undermine public confidence in the Court as a fair and neutral arbiter.” Justice Thomas in a separate dissent quoted the late Justice Scalia on the pro-abortion leaning of the Court, “Today the Court strikes down two state statutory provi­sions in all of their applications, at the behest of abortion clinics and doctors. That decision exemplifies the Court’s troubling tendency “to bend the rules when any effort to limit abortion, or even to speak in opposition to abortion, is at issue.” Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U. S. 914,...

The Supreme Court of Justice in Mexico decided 3 to 1 to reject a proposal to overturn federal law and declare that the criminalization of abortion is unconstitutional and that women have the right to make their own decisions on abortion. Currently abortion is illegal on the federal level with a rape exception. Three justices rejected the attempt by Justice Arturo Zaldívar to change the federal criminal code; he argued that the restriction of abortion ‘violates women’s rights to personal development, sexual and reproductive health, and freedom from discrimination’. The ruling centered on the case of Margarita Pino Salazar who was denied an abortion at a federal hospital and instead had it performed in a private health facility. Zaldívar attempted to have declared as unconstitutional two provisions of the Federal Penal Code that deal with the criminalization of abortion citing the case of Salazar but the fact that the articles did not apply to her helped to weaken the case. It was the first time that the Court has considered the penalization of abortion on the federal level.Pro-life advocates celebrated the decision. An official tweet from the Court suggests that there will be future considerations on abortion: “La @SCJN decidió no pronunciarse, por el momento, sobre la interrupción del embarazo en hospitales federales.” Translation: The @SCJN declined to rule, for the moment, on the termination of pregnancy in federal hospitals. [30 June 2016, PNCI email,...

In 2011 alone, abortion related complications affected 26,500 women and over 3000 women needed hospitalization; but the abortion industry has opposed Common sense health standards at every level in every State in America, and on June 27th 2016 the abortion industry received the highest court in the land’s approval to continue to operate on unsuspecting women in the usual substandard and sometimes deadly fashion. According to a report just released by Family Research Council, “the U.S. Supreme Court announced its 5-3 decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, striking down Texas’ H.B. 2 commonsense regulation and enforcement of basic health standards in abortion facilities. The Texas law required that abortion facilities be held to the same standard as surgical centers and that abortionists must have admitting privileges at a local hospital not further than thirty miles from the abortion facility.” Cincinnati Right to Life points out that “The Court’s decision affects states beyond Texas, including Ohio, as currently 29 states prescribe health and safety standards for abortion facilities, and 15 states require abortionists to maintain admitting privileges with a local hospital or a written patient transfer agreement with a doctor with such privileges to ensure knowledgeable care should an emergency occur” “The Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt decision is yet another example of the mess that our country is in, a mess that will only be overcome when we fall on our knees and ask for God’s forgiveness for allowing this slaughter to continue on our watch. For at least a decade many in the prolife movement have placed their trust in the courts as they have tried to...

Just one Planned Parenthood affiliate in Iowa allegedly committed $28 million in medicaid fraud. And now a federal appeals court has ruled that it cannot stop the lawsuit a former Planned Parenthood clinic director filed against it. Former Planned Parenthood clinic director Sue Thayer filed the lawsuit against the abortion giant’s Iowa affiliate accusing it of submitting “repeated false, fraudulent, and/or ineligible claims for reimbursements” to Medicaid and failing to meet acceptable standards of medical practice. Alliance Defending Freedom filed the suit for Thayer in March 2011. The lawsuit claims that Planned Parenthood’s Iowa affiliate submitted “repeated false, fraudulent, and/or ineligible claims for reimbursements” to Medicaid and failed to meet acceptable standards of medical practice. Thayer, former manager of Planned Parenthood’s Storm Lake and LeMars clinics, sued under both the federal and Iowa False Claims acts. The suit alleges that Planned Parenthood knowingly committed Medicaid fraud from 2002 to 2009 by improperly seeking reimbursements from Iowa Medicaid Enterprise and the Iowa Family Planning Network for products and services not legally reimbursable by those programs. “During my last years working at Planned Parenthood, it became increasingly clear to me that not all of their policies and protocols were completely legal and ethical. After much thought, I contacted the Alliance Defending Freedom,” Thayer said about the lawsuit. “I believe that it is an important piece in the nationwide effort to shed light on the darkness and deception surrounding America’s largest abortion provider – Planned Parenthood.” The lawsuit alleges that Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, an affiliate now known as Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, filed nearly one-half million false claims with...

Among the various pro-life bills introduced at the state level, Oklahoma’s recent plan to start teaching fetal development in public schools deserves far more attention than it’s gotten so far. Banning certain abortion procedures, regulating abortionists, defunding Planned Parenthood, etc., are all important for their own sake; but each of them, and the long-term goal of ending abortion for good, are ultimately too dependent on public opinion changing on its own. Although America is opposed to abortion on balance (meaning pro-life politicians needn’t fear being more pro-active about it), self-identification as “pro-life” and “pro-choice” still fluctuates back and forth too often, without signs of a lasting, long-term spike on the horizon. We cannot simply wait for the public to decide on its own to end abortion. Education and outreach efforts from pro-life activists are valuable, but can only go so far. The key is to reach the assumptions of people, particularly future generations, who don’t already agree with, aren’t on course to cross paths with us on their own, and aren’t interested enough in abortion to proactively research it for themselves. Oklahoma has the key. Their education bill is a model for what should be one of the top state-level legislative priorities of every pro-life organization in the country. Think about it: simply requiring public schools to clearly educate students on clear, objective, undeniable facts of human biology, which are a bedrock part of one of the core subjects, should be one of the easiest sells in the world for any halfway-competent politician. Religious indoctrination? No, this is basic science. What about rape cases or Planned Parenthood? We’re just...

In her responding brief opposing the defense motion to quash the tainted indictments, Anderson makes one more startling admission. She acknowledged that her office violated the law when it made public Daleiden and Merritt’s indictments before they were served or placed in custody or under bond. An attorney representing Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Josh Schaffer, has admitted that he pressured the Harris County District Attorney’s office to refocus a grand jury investigation away from his client and onto pro-life journalists David Daleiden and his associate, Sandra Merritt, of the Center for Medical Progress. Schaeffer also confessed that Assistant District Attorney Sunni Mitchell did an “end around” the State Attorney General Ken Paxton in order to share sealed video evidence with Planned Parenthood. The grand jury later returned indictments against Daleiden and Merritt. Shaffer stated publicly that he was informed by the District Attorney’s office that no investigation of Planned Parenthood ever took place. The admissions came in an affidavit filed as an exhibit by Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson to a brief responding to the defendants’ motion to quash the indictments against Daleiden and Merritt. SIGN THE PETITION: Drop the Charges Against David Daleiden and Charge Planned Parenthood After the release last year of undercover videos taken by Daleiden, lead investigator for the Center for Medical Progress, and his associate, Susan Merritt, Paxton ordered Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson to launch an investigation into allegations that Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC) was illegally selling aborted baby remains for profit and altering abortion procedures to ensure that marketable organs would be available for sale. At the “suggestion” of...

Comment: There are many reasons for premature birth, one of which is previous abortion. Abortion can weaken the cervix, so that as the baby gets bigger, the weakened cervix cannot stay contracted, and the mother gives birth too early. There are now over 140 published studies showing a link between abortion and premature birth. Thus, one way to avoid preterm labor & delivery is to avoid abortion. A new paper from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics finds that among premature babies born at 22 to 23 weeks LMP (20-21 weeks post-fertilization) who are given “active” care, 61 to 71 percent survive. This is an even higher survival rate than reported last year by the New England Journal of Medicine, fresh evidence that the “viability standard” is a quickly moving target. The publication came one day after details emerged in the case of a baby being born alive during a failed abortion in Phoenix, AZ. An abortion facility employee can be heard on recently released 911 tapes saying: “The fetus is breathing so we need care for it now…We can’t provide that care except for oxygen and we’re trying to keep the fetus stable until someone arrives.” “A baby was born alive at 21 weeks and rather than being rushed to the NICU, he suffered, awaiting medical care the abortion clinic was incapable of providing,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. She added: “That this child could die with so little national attention speaks to the callous state of our laws on abortion. The status quo espoused by Hillary Clinton – legal abortion-on-demand,...

Pro-life efforts in Alabama are making a huge difference for unborn babies and their moms across the state. A new report found abortions dropped 21 percent in Alabama in just four years. The Alabama Media Group reports [ http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/abortion_in_alabama_number_of.html ] the new numbers from the state Department of Public Health. In 2014, there were 8,080 abortions in Alabama, a 21 percent drop from the 10,280 abortions in 2010, according to the state. That means 2,200 fewer babies were aborted in just the past four years. According to the report, Alabama’s abortion rate is much lower than the national average with 12 percent of pregnancies ending in abortion, compared to 18 percent of pregnancies nationwide. The Rev. James Henderson, former executive director of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, was encouraged to hear the news and took it as a sign that pro-lifers are making a difference. “According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, our pro-life efforts were the reason [Planned Parenthood] left Huntsville,” Henderson told the news outlet. “In this city, we’ve seen five closures. We’d like to see all of them close.” According to the report, there were 12 abortion clinics in 2001 in Alabama, and now there are five. More abortion facilities could close, too, when a new law goes into effect. Signed by Gov. Robert Bentley on May 12, the law bans abortion facilities from building within 2,000 feet of public elementary or middle schools and prohibits the state health department from issuing or renewing a health center license to current abortion clinics within the same distance of the schools, LifeNews reported. The legislation could close...

2 of Alabama’s 3 Largest Abortion Sites May be Forced to Close Protests at Huntsville abortion site 5.5.16 Rev. James Henderson speaks to reporters outside the Alabama Women’s Center, LLC in Huntsville while being videoed by one of the abortion business’ escorts. Two of Alabama’s three largest abortion facilities may be forced to close because of a bill passed Wednesday by the state legislature and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Robert Bentley. Abortion sites in Huntsville and Tuscaloosa are located within 2,000 feet of public schools grades K-8, which will break the law if Bentley signs Senate bill 205 into law. The two businesses performed 5,927 abortions in 2014 (the most recent statistics available), according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Those clinics performed 72 percent of the 8,080 abortions in the state in 2014. The Huntsville site is across the street from Academy for Academics and Arts, a K-8 school, on Sparkman Drive and the Tuscaloosa site is located near Tuscaloosa Magnet elementary (grades 1-5) and middle schools (grades 6-8) on McFarland Boulevard. The ACLU on Thursday reiterated its stance that it will take legal action if the bill is signed into law as well as another abortion-related bill. “With precious little time remaining in the legislative session, and in the face of so many issues facing the state, Alabama’s elected officials today chose to focus on attacking women’s healthcare,” said Susan Watson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama. “We know that restrictions like these only endanger the health and safety of Alabama women.” In Huntsville on Thursday, Rev. James...

On 2 March 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court [SCOTUS] heard arguments for and against Whole Women’s Health vs. Hellerstedt, which is a pro-abortion challenge to the Texas law that abortionists shall follow medical health and safety standards to protect women seeking abortions. The major regulation states that abortionists must have admitting privileges at a hospital within a 30-mile radius and operate under the same rules as any outpatient surgery facility. Whole Women’s Health vs. Hellerstedt is the first abortion case the SCOTUS has agreed to hear since 2007, when it upheld the federal partial-birth abortion ban. SCOTUS will decide whether abortion businesses must follow the law, as all other medical facilities do. This decision will affect other states. Currently, 29 states prescribe health and safety standards for abortion businesses, and 15 require abortionists to have admitting privileges at a local hospital, or to have patient transfer/covering physician agreements with another doctor who has hospital privileges, in order to ensure knowledgeable care for the injured woman. In early February 2016, OH AG Mike DeWine joined with 23 other states in the filing of an Amicus curiae (‘Friend of the Court’ brief) in support of the Texas law, which is similar to Ohio’s law. Many other briefs have been filed on both sides, and the present administration also filed its own brief in opposition to the Texas law. SCOTUS is expected to release its decision in June 2016. [April-May 2016, Cincinnati Right to Life Ed. Fdn. Inc. News...

Louisiana Governor Signs Bill to Ban Dismemberment Abortions Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed into law to ban dismemberment abortions. Several other states, including West Virginia and Alabama, have already approved or are considering legislation to ban the dismemberment abortion technique — used to tear off a baby’s limbs during the abortion procedure during the later time segments of pregnancy. HB 1081, the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Act, authored by Rep. Mike Johnson, protects unborn babies by ending the brutal practice of dismemberment abortion in Louisiana. A dismemberment abortion, a subset of D&E abortions, is a second trimester abortion method where the abortionist uses forceps to seize and tear body parts from a live, unborn child…. For entire article, visit link below… [1 June 2016, Baton Rouge, LA, http://www.lifenews.com/2016/06/01/louisiana-governor-signs-bill-to-ban-dismemberment-abortions-tearing-off-babys-limbs/ ] Original Article — West Virginia Abortion Dismemberment Ban Takes Effect Sunday, May 29, 2016, marks the 90th day since final passage in the West Virginia legislature of the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act (SB 10). It will now take effect. On March 10, the West Virginia Senate voted 25-9 and the House of Delegates voted 85-15 to override Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s veto of the Dismemberment Abortion Ban, making West Virginia the third state to pass this historic legislation. The bill, which earlier had passed 24-9 in the Senate (2/17/16) and 86-13 in the House (2/29/16), was vetoed on March 9, by Governor Tomblin. Prior to its passage in West Virginia, the measure was in effect in Kansas and Oklahoma. Since successful passage in West Virginia, Mississippi and (most recently) Alabama have followed suit. The...

Ohio Legislature Defunds Planned Parenthood, Cuts $1.3 Million in Funding The Ohio House of Representatives has made its final vote to approve HB 294, which forbids state health funds from going to Planned Parenthood or any other abortion provider in the state. [10 Feb 2016, http://liveactionnews.org/ohio-legislature-defunds-planned-parenthood-cuts-1-3-million-in-funding/ AND http://news.yahoo.com/bill-strip-planned-parenthood-funds-nears-kasichs-desk-142510161–election.html ] Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio Will No Longer Kill Disabled Babies in Abortions http://www.lifenews.com/2016/01/29/christ-hospital-in-ohio-will-no-longer-kill-disabled-babies-in-abortions/ Ohio Senate Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood, Eliminates Almost $1 Million in Grants On Wednesday, the Ohio Senate voted 22-8 to pass HB 294, legislation eliminating almost $1 million in federal grants to Planned Parenthood. The bill cleared the state House 62-30 last November, and now returns to the House to resolve changes between both chambers’ versions, after which it is expected to be signed into law by Governor John Kasich. Sixty-four percent of Ohioans favor eliminating Planned Parenthood’s federal tax funding. “With an infant mortality crisis like Ohio’s, our State has to be very deliberate in ensuring that funds combating that crisis go to programs that respect the whole continuum of life,” Ohio Right to Life executive director Stephanie Ranade Krider said. “Ohio Right to Life thanks the leadership of Senate President Keith Faber and Chairman Bill Coley for passing this legislation with careful thought and consideration, and the utmost compassion for mothers and their babies,” she added. Ohio’s current protections for the preborn place it as the 17th most pro-life state in the country, according to Americans United for Life’s annual Life List. [Jan 28, 2016, Calvin Freiburger, http://liveactionnews.org/planned-parenthood-defunding-clears-oh-senate-signature-likely/ ] Ohio Senate Passes Bill to Remove Some Funding from Abortion Providers...

In January, 2015, for the first time since 2006, a pro-life Senate majority was sworn into office after hard-fought victories in the 2014 elections. In addition to defending pro-life seats, the following either ousted a pro-abortion incumbent or flipped an open seat that had previously been in pro-abortion hands: : Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Steve Daines of Montana, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. All of these freshman senators currently hold a 100% voting record with National Right to Life. Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act passed House, got first-ever Senate vote. Sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona, the historic pro-life bill to protect unborn babies capable of feeling pain at 20 weeks and older passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 13, 2015 by a vote of 242-184 (with 1 present and 5 not voting). Prior to 2015, when pro-abortion Sen. Harry Reid held the majority leader post, the bill was never even considered in the Senate. On September 22, 2015, 54 senators voted to advance the bill, including 3 Democrats, while 42 voted against. Unfortunately, pro-life lawmakers fell short of the 60 votes required to invoke cloture and advance the bill. Dismemberment Abortion Ban enacted in 2 states, introduced in Congress. An innovative new bill, based on model legislation drafted by National Right to Life, was signed into law in Kansas and Oklahoma. The law protects unborn babies from a gruesome abortion method that involves tearing...

Operation Rescue is wrapping up an eventful and productive year, culminating with the release of our annual survey of abortion centers that revealed the good news that the national trend of closing abortion centers strongly continues. “As the old saying goes, ‘with the blessing comes the blasting.’ That was so very true for Operation Rescue in 2015,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “We made remarkable headway this year, but also endured some of the worst attacks we have seen in years, probably because we were on the cutting edge and in the headlines pushing back against the agenda of the Abortion Cartel.” The Center for Medical Progress changed the game over the summer by releasing several undercover video summaries that depicted Planned Parenthood personnel at the highest levels negotiating for the sale of aborted baby body parts with undercover CMP actors posing as representatives of a biologics company. Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, served on the Board of the CMP during the nearly three-year investigation. Because of his advisory role in the project, once the first videos were released, Newman, along with CMP head David Daleiden, was sued in Federal Court by the National Abortion Federation. The NAF is attempting to keep videos related to their role in the baby body parts scandal from being made public. That lawsuit is ongoing and continues to threaten free speech and free press rights in America. Despite the attacks (both legal and in the pro-abortion media) that Newman and Operation Rescue have endured from a panicked Abortion Cartel as backlash to this project, and Planned Parenthood’s aggressive public relations campaign...

Judges Turn Away Two Injunctions to Halt California Bully Bill Pro-life pregnancy help centers are days away from having to choose between following their conscience and following a newly enacted state law in California, after two district judges denied motions for preliminary injunctions Monday. The motions were filed on behalf of a total of six life-affirming pregnancy help medical clinics—each of which are state-licensed clinics—by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) in separate cases. Judges in both cases declined to stop the so-called “Reproductive FACT Act” from taking effect Jan. 1, 2016 on constitutional grounds. The rulings set the stage for the state’s 150 pro-life pregnancy help locations—including 74 state-licensed clinics offering free limited ultrasound—to incur first-offense fines starting at $500 for refusing to post signage the organizations say forces them to advertise a pro-abortion message. [For remainder of article — http://pregnancyhelpnews.com/judges-turn-away-two-injunctions-to-halt-california-bully-bill , Heartbeat Int’l email, 28 Dec 2015] ************************************** PREGNANCY CENTERS UNDER ATTACK ************************************** ADF, NIFLA, File Suit on Behalf of California Pregnancy Centers to Stop New Law Forcing PCs to Promote Abortion by Jay Hobbs The ink was still drying from California Gov. Jerry Brown’s pen after he signed AB 775 into law last Friday by the time Kevin Snider, lead counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute, filed a lawsuit to begin the process of striking down what pro-life opponents had called the “Bully Bill” during its path through the California legislature this summer. Citing what its president, Brad Dacus, called the new law’s “egregious violation of both the free speech and free exercise clauses of the First...